Objective To analyze magnetic resonance diffusion kurtosis imaging(DKI) MK and FA values in differentiating highgrade gliomas and metastases. Methods 21 cases of high-grade gliomas and 18 cases of metastases from Feb. 2015 to Dec. 2015 in the fourth affiliated hospital of guangzhou medical university were taken as the clinical research objects, which were divided into gliomas group and metastases group. Both group patients were accepted routine MRI scan and DKI sequence, and their results were transmitted to the workstation. Tumor parenchyma and edema areas were taken as the region of interest (ROI), the average value of kurtosis (MK) and fractional anisotropy ( FA) in different areas were measured respectively. Results There were no significant differences in FA and MK values between the two groups in tumor parenchyma area (P>0.05).There was no significant difference in FA value which could better displayed the damage degree of tissue fiber bundle between the two groups in edema area around tumor (P>0.05). The MK value of the gliomas group was (0.512±0.054 )which was significantly higher than that of the metastases group (0.441±0.048)(P<0.05). Conclusion The FA value of DKI sequence can better reflect the characteristics of tumor tissue structure and the degree of damage, and DKI sequence combined with MK value of ROI can provide an important basis for identification of high-grade gliomas and metastasis.